I’m living in a suburb of Cleveland known for its large Jewish population.
What should I expect from my neighbors around Christmas time … or rather, Hanukka time? Blue and white lights? Hanukka bushes in the windows? Plastic mohels on front lawns?
I take it you’re not Jewish. Hanukkah bushes? Plastic mohels? :dubious: 
Well, I live in a majority Jewish town (at least when I’m not up here at school) and Christmas in our town looks like Christmas in most towns, albeit toned down more than a bit of course. But we have lights in trees and on storefronts, wreaths, etc. This is public displays put on by the town or by larger businesses.
Privately? Not much. Hanukkiot in windows during hanukkah. Possibly a banner or something, and of course the nice little “affirmative action menorahs” as I call them in a lot of holiday displays. But not much “decorative” stuff, certainly not on people’s homes. It’s not really very Jewish to do that.
Yeah, they don’t even put blood on their doors for Passover any more.
Mod note:
There was a duplicate thread so I merged them. I think.
::peers around nervously::
If anybody’s response got oddly misplaced, Santa ate it.
TVeblen,
IMNO mod
Hannukah is not “the Jewish Christmas.” Hannukah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday that happens to be rather festive and happens to fall in December, so it’s been co-opted into some kind of faux Christmasy thing. “See, Adam. You’re not missing out on anything because you’re Jewish. You have HANNUKAH!!” "See, we’re not discriminating against anyone by singing only Christmas carols at the school concert. We’re also singing “Dreidel dreidel.” :rolleyes:
So, my advice to you, dear elmwood, is to immediately get the idea that your neighbors will “do” anything that you might be aware of.
And please please please don’t do what has been done to me over and over: Someone will say “Merry Christmas” to a group, and then turn to me and say “And happy Hannukah to you.” Geez, why don’t you stick a yellow star on my arm while you’re at it! Okay, that was over the top, but you know what, it really makes me uncomfortable. I know people are trying to be considerate and everything, but it makes me feel like I’m being singled out for being Jewish.
Anyway, I doubt most Jewish people get offended at being wished a Merry Christmas, but if you don’t know what to say, just wish them a happy new year.
They don’t?!
[sub]: friedo despondantly discards his bucket of Passover blood. :[/sub]
I don’t know about you guys, but we stand around our menorahs and sing along with Adam Sandler’s Chanukah songs.
[family choir ON]
Put on your yarmulka,
'Cause here comes Chanukah!
[/family choir]
;j
Damn. I really wanted to get the giant inflatable dreidel and the plastic, internally lit mohel at the garden center, too. Rabbi Claus at the Legacy Village shopping center would have been cool, too. “Vot? You vant a Red Rider BB gun? Oy vey is mir … you’ll poke an eye out, moishe!”
Dad’s Jewish, but he’s a very light practitioner. I grew up unaware of the bulk of Jewish customs. Mom and Dad live in an area where the majority of Buffalo’s Jews live, but they’re vastly outnumbered by the town’s old-school Catholics. Most Jews I know are Reform or non-practicing, while out here, the streets are filled with black hatted Orthodox practitioners on Saturday.
Happy holidays works quite nicely, actually.
I grew up in a primarily Jewish section of Queens, and it was no big deal. The biggest difference I think was the lack of garish Christmas displays, with robot elfs and the like.
Ohhh. I was talking about your average secular Jews in my post. I didn’t realize you were referring to black hatted groups. They probably are much more likely than secular Jews to spurn the Christmasization of Hannukah, and celebrate it in its traditional sense, so I really wouldn’t expect them to do anything. And don’t wish them a Merry Christmas!
Although you could have hit on a big-selling idea with the plastic lawn mohels. But instead of a basic internally lit model, I’d say you should go whole hog…er…whole cow and do a moving singing lighted plastic mohel. You could set it up sort of like a nativity: Have the cradle holding the baby Joshua surrounded by the parents, relatives, and house pets. The mohel could be waving his scalpel and singing “Cuts like a Knife.”
Damn. I might just have to make a “Jewish nativity” of my very own.
My somewhat cynical group at work devised the greeting “have an emotionally appropriate festive season.” We figure that covers people who don’t want to be happy or merry, too.
Maybe I’m off the mark, but I think this runs the risk of coming off as snarky – like, “Oh, I can’t just wish you a Merry Christmas, so have an ‘emotionally appropriate festive season’,” as if people are being oversenstive if they prefer not to be wished “Merry Christmas” because it isn’t their holiday.
We live in an area that’s got a lot of Jews, although I don’t know that Judaism is predominant. We don’t flaunt Christmas (we’re not Christian but do celebrate Christmas as a cultural holiday, like Halloween or Thanksgiving), and they are pretty laid back about things as well. Not so many pretty Christmas lights, but there are other areas of town we can go look for that stuff.
My advice is to relax and be neighborly. And talk to your neighbors, maybe you’ll learn something about your heritage.
I prefer the following: Happy Festive Commercial Gift-Giving Season!
Although we did give gifts, my parents never made a huge honking deal over Chanukah and I continue to regard it as a low-stress holiday. We did put our lit menorahs (chanukiahs if you want to be accurate) in the window. That was about it.